I do not think that opposing DTC ads is in our or our patients’ best interests. Opposition is rather part of the Conspiracy to Keep Us Poor and Stupid. I don’t think for a minute that your opposition is motivated by such a desire, but I do believe that we can use this to educate our patients. When a patient comes into my office requesting a high dollar advertised med that is not indicated, I have a 30 second, thus far completely successful, spiel advising the patient that the ads from Pfizer or wherever are every bit as self interested and accurate as the ads from Miller beer or the Gap. In fact, due to the limited amount of FDA oversight of DTC ads, I think that they are a lot more reliable than press releases from AIDS activist groups. As disgusting as some of the ads are (I’m thinking Levitra here), the DTC ads do serve a useful purpose of informing civilians that it’s OK and possibly useful to ask your doc about problems that they have for which there are new therapies on the market.

The antidote for bad information is more and good information. I also believe that we have to balance the good that the cox2 inhibitors have done. I really have seen a decrease in major GI bleeds. This is totally anecdotal, but I remember expected a big increase when ibuprofen and naproxen went OTC.